“Post-war tensions and instability were the most important reasons for the origin of the state of Israel.” Discuss.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that post-war tensions and instability were the most important reasons for the origin of the state of Israel. Reasons may predate the timeframe but they must be clearly linked to the issue raised in the question. Candidates may refer to Britain’s military weakness and inability to control conflict in Palestine after the Second World War. The inability to reach a negotiated settlement between Arabs and Jews led to the UN partition which recognized the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine. This caused further confusion and led to a power vacuum when Britain abandoned the mandate in 1948. Jewish armed forces and armaments had increased during the Second World War and allowed the Jewish population to seize control of the mandate. Candidates may refer to the role played by the USA and USSR in supporting Israel as well as the support from many countries and individuals as a result of the Holocaust. Candidates may also note the well-organized Jewish administrative structures that had existed pre-1939 which gave them the ability to quickly establish a government in the mandate. The work of leaders such as Ben-Gurion may be noted Candidates’ opinions or conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

This topic on the creation of the state of Israel was popular and poorly done. Students lacked knowledge on the post-1945 period which was required and tried to substitute descriptions of post WW1 events which were of limited value to the question. This was caser of ignoring the required timer period and having very little knowledge of the issue in question.